Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
A. G. Lipp, O. Shorttle, E. A. Sperling, J. J. Brocks, D. B. Cole, P. W. Crockford, L. Del Mouro, K. Dewing, S. Q. Dornbos, J. F. Emmings, U. C. Farrell, A. Jarrett, B. W. Johnson, P. Kabanov, C. B. Keller, M. Kunzmann, A. J. Miller, N. T. Mills, B. O'Connell, S. E. Peters, N. J. Planavsky, S. R. Ritzer, S. D. Schoepfer, P. R. Wilby, J. Yang
Summary: This study reveals that the Archean upper continental crust was silica-rich and exhibited similar compositional diversity to modern continents, suggesting an early onset of plate tectonics in the early Archean or even earlier. Additionally, the research found that in the Archean, chemical weathering sequestered around 25% more CO2 per mass eroded compared to subsequent time periods, indicating a carbon mass balance despite higher Archean outgassing rates and limited continental exposure.
GEOCHEMICAL PERSPECTIVES LETTERS
(2021)
Review
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Peter A. Cawood, Priyadarshi Chowdhury, Jacob A. Mulder, Chris J. Hawkesworth, Fabio A. Capitanio, Prasanna M. Gunawardana, Oliver Nebel
Summary: Understanding the secular evolution of the Earth system is essential for studying the history of our planet. By analyzing the rock and mineral archive in the continental lithosphere, researchers have identified seven phases of secular evolution. Integrating this record with knowledge of mantle cooling and lithospheric rheology provides insights into the changes in tectonic modes throughout Earth's history.
REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS
(2022)
Review
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Rixiang Zhu, Guochun Zhao, Wenjiao Xiao, Ling Chen, Yanjie Tang
Summary: The origin, accretion, and reworking of the continental crust on Earth remain controversial. While plate tectonics theory struggles to explain the origin of Archean continents, growing evidence supports the oceanic plateau models as a better explanation. The characteristics of Archean continents, such as bimodal volcanics and the emplacement of TTG rocks, suggest a different geological process than plate tectonics.
REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zhonglan Liu, W. Roger Buck
Summary: Seismically imaged axial melt lenses (AMLs) are commonly found along the axis of fast-spreading ridges but only localized segment centers on slow-spreading ridges. Traditional models fail to explain this distribution. By combining crustal density and thermal models with a recent mechanical model for sill formation, we found that AMLs form below the axial lithosphere only if the average density of the brittle lithosphere is not greater than the magma density. Our results provide a quantitative explanation for the difference in AML distribution between fast and slow-spreading centers.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yu Ren, Jacob Geersen, Ingo Grevemeyer
Summary: Oceanic transform faults (OTFs) are an integral part of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics. A new study has systematically quantified the variations in transform morphology and their dependence on spreading rate and age-offset. The research found that the length, width, and depth of OTFs are more systematically correlated with age-offset than spreading rate. This supports recent geodynamic models that propose cross-transform extension scaling with age-offset as a key process in transform dynamics. Furthermore, OTFs with larger age-offsets tend to have longer, wider, and deeper valleys on a global scale.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
C. L. Kirkland, M. I. H. Hartnady, M. Barham, H. K. H. Olierook, A. Steenfelt, J. A. Hollis
Summary: Through analyzing Hf isotopic data in detrital zircons from modern stream sediment samples in West Greenland, a study reveals successive reworking of felsic Hadean-to-Eoarchean crust, indicating a crustal rejuvenation coincident with peak mantle potential temperatures. This suggests a planetary shift towards more juvenile Hf values over time.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
James Jackson, Dan McKenzie, Keith Priestley
Summary: This paper discusses the distribution of earthquakes and their relationship with earthquake depths, material temperature, and their significance for the rheology and deformation of the continental lithosphere. The sudden release of elastic energy accumulated during slow plate motions generates earthquakes. Advances in seismic tomography allow for increasingly detailed maps of lithosphere thickness, providing important insights into continental earthquakes and lithosphere deformation.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Fabian Stoehr, Lukas Mueller, Adrian Brady, Antoni Trilla, Aline Maehringer-Kunz, Felix Hahn, Christoph Dueber, Nicole Becker, Marcus-Alexander Woerns, Julius Chapiro, Jan Bernd Hinrichs, Deniz Akata, Stephan Ellmann, Merel Huisman, David Koff, Sebastian Brinkmann, Fabian Bamberg, Oscar Zimmermann, Nikoleta Traikova, Jens U. Marquardt, D-H Chang, Fabian Rengier, Timo A. Auer, Tilman Emrich, Felix Muehler, Heinz Schmidberger, Bettina Baessler, Daniel Pinto Dos Santos, Roman Kloeckner
Summary: This study evaluated medical students' attitudes towards online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the majority being satisfied with the quantity and quality of online courses. While online learning provided greater flexibility, there were concerns such as motivational problems and lack of interaction with fellow students leading to potential social isolation. Students also believed that medical education lagged behind in utilizing online learning capabilities.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Boris Marcaillou, Frauke Klingelhoefer, Muriel Laurencin, Jean-Frederic Lebrun, Mireille Laigle, Serge Lallemand, Laure Schenini, Aurelien Gay, Milton Boucard, Kingsley Ezenwaka, David Graindorge
Summary: Seismic and bathymetric data from the Northeastern Lesser Antilles Subduction Zone reveal a unique tectonic fabric characterized by sequences of Ridgeward-Dipping Reflectors, which may have been formed during the early stages of exhumation. Plate bending near the trench could have reactivated this fabric, enabling deep fluid circulation and serpentinization of basement rocks. Detachment faults in the oceanic basement at this subduction zone could be responsible for controlling reduced interplate seismicity through deep fluid circulation and serpentinization.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Renier Viltres, Sigurjon Jonsson, Abdulaziz O. Alothman, Shaozhuo Liu, Sylvie Leroy, Frederic Masson, Cecile Doubre, Robert Reilinger
Summary: The study of the present-day motion and internal deformation of the Arabian plate reveals its overall rigidity and minimal internal deformation, with localized strain likely due to anthropogenic activities and possible subsurface magmatic processes near its western margin.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Geoffrey C. Collins, G. Wesley Patterson, Charlene E. Detelich, Louise M. Prockter, Simon A. Kattenhorn, Catherine M. Cooper, Alyssa R. Rhoden, Benjamin B. Cutler, Samantha R. Oldrid, Reid P. Perkins, Craig A. Rezza
Summary: A survey on Europa revealed that there are many areas on the surface that have experienced past lateral surface motions. The study found that some of these motions can be described by systems of rigid plates, but not all. The research also showed that plate motions on Europa occur episodically and are limited to specific regions. Furthermore, there are differences in motion directions between the northern and southern hemispheres, raising questions about the influence of tidal forces on plate motions.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-PLANETS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Robert J. Stern
Summary: Eight lines of evidence suggest that the Orosirian Period experienced plate tectonics, including the presence of ophiolites, low temperature and pressure metamorphism, passive margins, tall mountains, paleomagnetic constraints, ore deposits, abundant S-type granites, and seismic images of paleo-subduction zones. This plate tectonic episode occurred much earlier than the current plate tectonics in the Neoproterozoic era, indicating Earth's tectonic style can be reconstructed back to the Early Paleoproterozoic. The evidence for multiple tectonic episodes suggests that Earth switched between single lid and plate tectonics multiple times during the past 2.4 billion years.
GEOSCIENCE FRONTIERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Guochun Zhao, Jian Zhang, Changqing Yin, Chao Wang, Guowei Zhang
Summary: The plate tectonics theory can explain almost all geological phenomena, but fails to explain the features of Archean continents. Several pre-plate tectonics models have been proposed, but none of them successfully explain all the features. Researchers worldwide are conducting extensive investigations to solve this scientific conundrum.
CHINESE SCIENCE BULLETIN-CHINESE
(2023)
Review
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Boris Robert, Mathew Domeier, Johannes Jakob
Summary: The study reconsiders the timing and framework of Iapetus opening by integrating observational records from Laurentia, Baltica, and Amazonia. By combining paleomagnetic data and a review of the mid-Neoproterozoic to Cambrian geology, a consistent and geodynamically feasible plate tectonic model is constructed. The breakup of the continents was polyphase, involving the opening of several oceans, including the Iapetus Ocean.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Andrew S. Merdith, Simon E. Williams, Alan S. Collins, Michael G. Tetley, Jacob A. Mulder, Morgan L. Blades, Alexander Young, Sheree E. Armistead, John Cannon, Sabin Zahirovic, R. Dietmar Mueller
Summary: Recent progress in plate tectonic reconstructions has expanded beyond continental drift to reconstruct the full evolving configuration of tectonic plates and plate boundaries. A continuous full-plate model spanning 1 billion years to present-day has been developed, incorporating a revised model for the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian period and connecting it with models of the Phanerozoic. The model is geologically constrained and based on preserved data from past plate boundaries, with the goal of providing a detailed and self-consistent tectonic reconstruction for the last billion years of Earth's history.
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Xianzhi Cao, Nicolas Flament, R. Dietmar Muller
Summary: The study suggests that basal thermochemical structures are not stationary, but rather linked to global plate motions and plate boundary reconfigurations, reflecting the dynamic nature of the coevolving plate-mantle system.
GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Carmen Braz, Sabin Zahirovic, Tristan Salles, Nicolas Flament, Lauren Harrington, R. Dietmar Mueller
Summary: The widespread flooding of the Australian continent during the Early Cretaceous, known as the Eromanga Sea, was previously believed to be solely due to dynamic subsidence associated with Australia's movement. However, recent studies show that previous mantle convection models overestimated dynamic topography amplitudes. This work links erosion, deposition, dynamic topography, and eustasy in testing their contribution to basin development, with results showing that lower amplitude estimates of dynamic topography better reflect the Australian continent's vertical motions during the Cretaceous.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Benedicte Cenki, Patrice F. Rey, Diane Arcay, Julian Giordani
Summary: This article discusses the formation process of high to ultra-high temperature granulitic terranes, and evaluates the effects of geothermal conditions on their formation using analytical and numerical models. The results of the numerical experiments suggest that variations in radiogenic heat production and shortening rates play important roles in determining the geothermal conditions and rock formation.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Jonny Wu, Yi-An Lin, Nicolas Flament, Jeremy Tsung-Jui Wu, Yiduo Liu
Summary: This study reconstructs the tectonic evolution of the Northwest Pacific-Izanagi plate since the Cretaceous period using geological mapping and global tomography. The results indicate that the subduction of the Izanagi plate under Eurasia was relatively limited, mainly occurring between the Bohai Bay-Yellow Sea in China and northern Russia. The interaction between the vanished Izanagi plate and the Pacific plate had a significant impact on the tectonic evolution of Eurasia.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Alexander Young, Nicolas Flament, Simon E. Williams, Andrew Merdith, Xianzhi Cao, R. Dietmar Muller
Summary: The sedimentary rock record suggests that global sea levels have changed by hundreds of meters throughout Phanerozoic times. This study develops a new framework to model sea level change, combining plate tectonic reconstructions and time-dependent models of past mantle flow. The results show the contributions of different solid Earth mechanisms to sea level change and are consistent with existing constraints and reconstructions.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2022)
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nicolas Flament, Omer F. Bodur, Simon E. Williams, Andrew S. Merdith
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nicolas Flament, Omer F. Bodur, Simon E. Williams, Andrew S. Merdith
Summary: Plate tectonics plays a crucial role in shaping Earth's surface, with cold oceanic lithosphere sinking and hot mantle plumes rising. This study focuses on volcanic eruptions over the past 320 million years and their relationship to basal mantle structures. The findings suggest that the history of volcanism is statistically consistent with both mobile and fixed basal mantle structures, challenging previous assumptions.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anton Grabreck, Nicolas Flament, Omer F. Bodur
Summary: Kimberlites, the main source of economic grade diamonds, are closely related to the basal mantle structures. The research shows that mobile lowermost mantle structures better match the reconstructed kimberlite eruption locations and major kimberlitic events, indicating the consistency between solid Earth dynamics and the kimberlite record.
Article
Geology
Luke S. Mondy, Patrice F. Rey, Guillaume Duclaux
Summary: This study investigates the formation mechanism of compressional episodes and phases of uplift during continental extension. The results show that rift basins tend to localize compressive stresses, with transient compressional stresses reaching up to 30 MPa. When sediment supply ceases, a profound depth inversion of 2 km magnitude occurs.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Omer F. Bodur, Gregory A. Houseman, Patrice F. Rey
Summary: Dynamic subsidence and uplift of plates can be explained by vertical motion of density anomalies in the mantle. However, recent research shows that vertical surface motions with rates greater than 100 m Myr(-1) and durations less than a few Myr can be explained by changes in basal shear stress caused by horizontal motion of a viscous plate relative to the asthenosphere. This model is applied to the mid-Eocene immersion of the southern margin of Australia.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Youseph Ibrahim, Patrice F. Rey
Summary: Warmer conditions in the hinterland facilitate local ductile flow, leading to prevalent Airy-like local isostasy. However, the regional response is better described by flexural isostasy. The interaction between horizontal tectonic mass transfer and vertical isostatic mass transfer impacts the architecture of fold and thrust belts.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
oemer F. Bodur, Nicolas Flament
Summary: Most diamonds are transported to the Earth's surface from depths of around 120 km to 660 km by kimberlites, which are volatile-rich magmas. The locations where kimberlites erupted in the past 320 million years have been found to be related to large basal mantle structures at approximately 2,800 km depth as imaged by seismic imaging. Our global mantle convection models incorporating a basal layer of dense material driven by surface plate motions show that kimberlite magmatism is fueled by broad mantle upwellings occurring above basal mantle structures.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tristan Salles, Laurent Husson, Patrice Rey, Claire Mallard, Sabin Zahirovic, Beatriz Hadler Boggiani, Nicolas Coltice, Maelis Arnould
Summary: Our study utilizes a global-scale landscape evolution model to reconstruct past landscapes and geological processes, incorporating paleoelevation and paleoclimate reconstructions. This model provides continuous quantification of critical metrics for understanding Earth's system, such as global physiography and sediment flux. We reevaluate the role of surface processes in controlling sediment delivery to the oceans and identify stable sedimentation rates during the Cenozoic period with distinct phases of sediment transfer from land to marine basins. Our simulation serves as a tool for identifying inconsistencies in previous interpretations of the geological record and available paleoelevation and paleoclimatic reconstructions.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
R. Dietmar Muller, Nicolas Flament, John Cannon, Michael G. Tetley, Simon E. Williams, Xianzhi Cao, Omer F. Bodur, Sabin Zahirovic, Andrew Merdith
Summary: We present a tectonic-rules-based optimization approach to construct a plate motion model in a mantle reference frame covering the last billion years and use it as a constraint for mantle flow models. Our model results in net lithospheric rotation consistently below 0.25 degrees Myr(-1), in agreement with mantle flow models, while trench motions are confined to a relatively narrow range of -2 to +2 cm yr(-1) since 320 Ma, during Pangea stability and dispersal.
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Nicolas Flament, Omer F. Bodur, Simon E. Williams, Andrew S. Merdith